Thursday, July 27, 2017

Old enough to vote, old enough to choose not to smoke -- July 27, 2017 column

By MARSHA MERCER

Nearly half a century ago, Americans decided 18-year-olds
were responsible adults capable not only of fighting our wars but also of voting.

In the 21st century, though, some believe
these responsible adults need government protection from, of all things,
tobacco.

A trend has spread from community
to community to raise the age for buying tobacco and electronic cigarettes to
21. New Jersey just became the third state to enact a law, after Hawaii and
California.

The measures are well intentioned
and seemingly sensible. Nine in 10 smokers start before age 18, and most
states, including Virginia, allow young people 18 to buy tobacco products. No
one wants young people who believe they’ll live forever to take up a habit likely
to ruin their health and shorten their lives.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie
signed the bill July 21 that will raise the state’s smoking age from 19 to 21 in
November. It will give young people “more time to develop a maturity and better
understanding” of the dangers of smoking, he said.

But, really, can anyone in
2017 reach the age of majority – 18 – and not know nicotine is addictive and
smoking kills?

If 18-year-olds can be sent to
war, they’re “mature enough to make their own decision” and should be allowed
to smoke, LePage, a Republican, said in a radio interview.

LePage’s tenure has been
fraught with controversy stemming from his racially insensitive and profane
outbursts, but this time he’s onto something.

The slogan “old enough to
fight, old enough to vote” helped pass the 26th Amendment in 1971, giving
18-year-olds the right to vote. Using the same rationale, a couple dozen states
soon lowered the drinking age to 18.

An increase in deadly crashes
involving young drunk drivers followed, and states started reversing course.
Then, in 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill linking loss of 10 percent
of federal highway funds to states that did not adopt 21 as the drinking age.
All states complied.

Tobacco is the latest front in
the war to save “kids” from risky behavior. But someone 18 is legally an adult
who can sign contracts, get married and be sent to an adult prison. People
under 21 serve in combat every day.

Raising the age to buy tobacco
is a solution to a problem that’s naturally receding. Smoking rates for teens
and adults have been cut in half since the first surgeon general’s report in
1964.

New Jersey, for example, has
one of the lowest rates of smoking in the country. About 12 percent of adults
18 to 24 in the Garden State smoke. In Virginia, 18 percent of 18- to
24-year-olds smoke.

Health concerns aside, it’s
surprising that young people especially choose to spend their limited cash on
cigarettes. The average cost of a pack of cigarettes nationwide, including
state and federal excise taxes, is $6.16.

Unfortunately about 42 million
Americans and 3 million middle and high school students smoke. The key, health
advocates say, is stopping kids from starting.

The surgeon general last year
reported that high school students are more likely to use E-cigarette products
than old-fashioned tobacco, including cigarettes and cigars. Most E-cigarettes
contain nicotine, the report said.

But is an age ban the smartest
course to discourage teens from lighting up and vaping? Big Tobacco wouldn’t
like it but raising excise taxes still higher could serve as a deterrent for
all ages.

On a practical level, we
should consider who’s going to enforce the new laws. I bet most of us would rather
our overworked law enforcement officers focus on stopping youth violence than
go after convenience store clerks who sell a pack to a 20-year-old.

Do we really care as a society
if the teen gang member who’s making our city streets unsafe has a pack of
cigarettes in his pocket?

Recognizing that young people
have the brains to make the right choices in life is a first step toward creating
a responsible citizenry. We should respect our responsible adults, not baby
them.